I don't really know where I stand on this issue. I don't own a gun but I'm thinking of getting a hand gun for personal protection. I've gone to shooting ranges a couple of times, but would take hand gun training classes if I bought one. If confronted with a situation where my life or my family was at danger, I'm not sure how I'd react. If you hesitate to shoot the bad guy, you may die. I have a pretty bad temper and I think a gun could get me into trouble. There were times during my divorce (20 years ago) I had some pretty bad thoughts of what to do to my ex-wife. If I had a gun, it I might have gone through with it and could have ended up like Belcher. It was one of the low points of my life, but I sought out counseling because I didn't feel in control of my anger.

In regards to the pro gun people, how do you explain the high number of deaths by guns in the US compared to other countries? The statistics seem to support tighter gun controls, or is this just twisted information?

That link/report is not very useful in the analysis of gun related murder because it excludes the most common drug associated with gun related murder -- alcohol.

Have a look at this-
Alcohol link in 47% of murders

ALMOST half the homicides between 2000 and 2006 involved the consumption of alcohol, according to figures in a report.

A paper released by the Australian Institute of Criminology showed that of the 1565 murders recorded in that period, 746 or 47 per cent were classified as alcohol-related and, in 60 per cent of these incidents, the victim and offender had been drinking alcohol.

The Alcohol and Homicide in Australia paper drew on victim toxicology reports.

The institute's general manager (research), Dr Judy Putt, said eight of 10 homicides occurring in recreational venues were alcohol related and homicides on weekends or evenings were most likely to involve alcohol.

"Factors like gender, employment status, age, the relationship between victim and offender, as well as whether those involved were of indigenous backgrounds, affected the likelihood of alcohol being involved," Dr Putt said.

"Homicides involving male victims, unemployed victims and young offenders were also identified as most likely to have been alcohol related."

The paper also shows that 44 per cent of intimate partner homicides were alcohol related.

"The study found homicides where a male victim was killed by a female intimate partner were highly likely to be related to alcohol consumption (73 per cent), indicating that it is a more significant factor in intimate partner homicide than indicated by previous studies.

"Eighty-seven per cent of intimate partner homicides among the indigenous population were alcohol related, making it the highest proportion of alcohol-related homicide of all factors studied," Dr Putt said.